Outgoing Cabinet members wanted to leave, says Patrick

Friday

Dec 14, 2012 at 6:00 AMDec 14, 2012 at 10:22 AM

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Gov. Deval L. Patrick yesterday heaped praise on Education Secretary Paul Reville of Worcester and three other outgoing Cabinet members and introduced four replacements, including John W. Polanowicz of Northboro, slated to be the new secretary of health and human services.

Mr. Patrick choked up during a press conference where he announced the Cabinet members who were not going to stay on for the final two years of his second term. He dismissed questions whether some were leaving in an effort to help the administration move past ongoing controversies.

Besides Mr. Reville, who joined the administration in March 2008 when the state's top education post was elevated to a Cabinet position, others leaving are Health and Human Services Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez and Public Safety and Homeland Security Secretary Mary Beth Heffernan.

“In addition to being wise advisers, Mary Beth, Paul, JudyAnn and Jay, are also my friends,” Mr. Patrick said, pausing to look at each of them as they stood next to him in a Statehouse briefing room. “I am proud of their accomplishments and to have worked alongside them and I will remember every one of them. On behalf of a grateful public I thank them for their services and I wish them well.”

Two of the outgoing secretaries, Ms. Bigby and Ms. Heffernan, have been at the center of recent controversies.

Ms. Heffernan was caught up in a controversy for hiring Sheila Burgess in 2007 as the state's highway safety director, after it was revealed last month that Ms. Burgess had numerous traffic violations and accidents on her record and no specific qualifications for the position.

Ms. Burgess was recommended to the administration by U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, for whom she had worked as a fundraiser. She resigned from the position in November, effective next month, but controversy has continued over who was involved in approving the appointment.

Ms. Bigby, credited with implementing the state's universal health care reforms and developing the new health care cost control program, has been widely criticized for slow responses in her handling of a rogue chemist at the state's drug testing lab, whose mishandling of evidence has put thousands of state drug cases in jeopardy. She also oversees regulation of the drug compounding company whose contaminated injectable medicines were blamed for a national meningitis outbreak that has killed at least three dozen people across seven states.

The governor denied there was any effort to “clean house” and remove Cabinet members overseeing agencies involved in recent scandals.

He said he views the Burgess hiring as “an embarrassment.”

“She shouldn't have been in the job with the background she had and that's it. She's gone,” the governor said. He declined to say whether he would appoint Ms. Heffernan to a judgeship, but said, “She would make a great judge and that is all I am going to say about that right now.”

When asked whether Ms. Bigby should accept responsibility for the drug testing lab scandal and lack of regulation over the drug compounding industry, the governor said, “I bear responsibility. We had a criminal in the drug lab. We have a situation with the oversight of the compounding pharmacies that she and the team have responded to exceptionally well working with the FDA.

“I think she's been fabulous and I would hang onto her if I could. She's been here from the start and she has done a remarkable job,” Mr. Patrick said.

“We hope that when things go wrong they don't result in deaths as has been the case with the meningitis outbreak. But there are always going to be things that go wrong and the leaders who matter and the ones who succeed, just like each of these are the ones who step up and fix things that go wrong,” the governor said.

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading, who was among a number of Republicans who called for Ms. Bigby to resign, said he viewed the governor's replacement of Ms. Bigby as a step toward restoring public confidence in the administration.

The new Cabinet members will begin in January.

Matthew H. Malone, the outgoing superintendent of schools in Brockton, will become secretary of education. He was previously superintendent of Swampscott public schools, and was a finalist for the superintendent job in Worcester, which went to Melinda J. Boone.

“Matt will bring enthusiasm, dedication, energy, and a passion for quality education to his new position,” Worcester School Committee member Brian A. O'Connell said in an email.

Mr. Polanowicz, currently the president of St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton, is a former president of Marlboro Hospital.

Glen Shor, who for the last two years has been executive director of the state Health Insurance Connector Authority, will take over as the governor's top budget and finance official as secretary of administration and finance.

Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral will take over as secretary of public safety and homeland security.

Staying on for the remainder of the governor's final two years will be Secretary of Labor Joanne F. Goldstein, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Gregory Bialecki, Transportation Secretary Richard Davey and Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Richard K. Sullivan.